Hinge for multisection overhead doors



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HINGE FOR IIULTISECTION OVERHEAD DOORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 wf" mm MUNI@ [IIN I Alu HN" 41H1 2,645,807 Hmz: Fon wLrrsEc'rIoN om nooxs 's sheets-sheet 4 QA/Q15 July 21, 1953- Filed Dec 3 1948 July 21, 1953 J. F. MCKEE :TAL 2,645,807

mm vFOR MULT'IsEcTxoN OVERHEAD, nooRs Filed Dec. 3. 19@ 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented July 21, 1953 HINGE FOR MULTISECTION OVERHEAD DOORS l j AJohn F. McKee,pAurora, and Melvin E. Hartzlcr,

Downers Grove, Ill., assignors to McKee Door Company, Aurora, Ill., a` corporation of Illinois Application December 3, 1948, Serial No. 63,372

claims. (c1. ifs-9i) Our invention relates to overhead door constructions and is more particularly concerned with overhead doors of the type ywhich consists of a plurality of sections hingedly connected together and provided with rollers operating in held in rm sealing engagement with the edges of .l

the door opening when in closed position.

In order to give a door of this type a tight sealing closure against the jamb or stop molding it has been customary to provide tracks with tapered vertical portions which extend progressively rearward from the lower to the upper part of the door opening, and to provide the door sections with track rollers located at varying dis'- tances rearwardly of the door sections so that these sections will lie kin a truly vertical plane and be rrnly pressed against the doorjamb or stop molding when the door is in closed position. It also has been conventional practice to provide the sections of wide doors with reinforcing trusses which prevent warping or sagging and maintain the door rigidly against the pressure of wind and other forces.

An object of our invention is to provide a new and improved overhead door construction which is lighter in weight than the prior art doors for a given rigidity and which is more readily adapted for varying conditions of installation.

An additional object of our invention is to provide new and improved hardware for an overhead door of the aforesaid type.

A further object of our invention is to provide a new and improved hinge construction.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a new and improved truss construction.

A further object of our invention is to provide a new and improved combined hinge and truss construction.

Another object of our invention is to provide a new and improved hinge and track roller support.

Other objects and advantages will become aproller supported by such hinge is located inthe curved portion of the track. This iigure also in- Y dicates in dot-'dash lines the position of the upper door section when the roller is in a straight portion of the track;

Fig.v 4 is a partial rear `view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3; y

Fig. 5 is a partial horizontal sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; f

Fig. 6 is an enlarged partialrear elevational View showing the truss construction in detail;

Fig. '7 is a partial horizontal section taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. 6;

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 show different arrangements of the hinge inserts. and track roller shafts 'mounted therein; f

Fig. 1l indicates the different sizes of hinges and hinge and truss chair constructions which can be utilized to give a wide variation in the distance between the rear of the door and position of the track roller shafts;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged rear View of the combined hinge and truss construction shown in Fig. 1l;

Fig. 13 is a partial view similar to Fig. 11 but showing the use of shims to increase the tension on the truss bar; and

n Fig. 14 is anenlarged sectional view showing a detail of the manner in which the truss bars are Iattached to the door section.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that we have illustrated therein a door A comprising a plurality of sections 20 which may be of any desired size and construction and which will vary in number according to the height of the door opening and other relevant circumstances. The door A is illustrated as being in the closed position and as rmly sealed against the molding or doorjamb 22 of the door opening provided by a building B. The tracks 24 are located on opposite sides of the door opening and have vertical, horizontal, and connecting curved portions for guiding the door in its opening and closing movements and holding the door in either closed or open position, and the door is provided with rollers 26 (best shown in Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive), which Iare located in these tracks and support the door therein. Suitable counterbalancing means for the weight of the door is customarily provided, and in Fig. 2 'we have illustrated such means as comprising springs 28 located above the door tracks and having 4one end secured to a fixed support 30 and the other end connected by a cable or otherfflexible means 32 to a plate 34 attached to a lower vcorner of the bottom door section. It will be understood that the particular arrangement of counterbalancing means is illustrative only `as any other suitable counterbalancing means may be used in lieu thereof.

The individual door sections are connected by hinges 36, best shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. Each hinge comprises a pair of sections 36A and 36B preferably formed of sheet metal bent into U-shape and having interengaging portions which we shall now describe in some detail.

Referring particularly to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the hinge section 36A has upstanding sides or ears 38 to which sheet metal cups 40 are welded or otherwise suitably secured.' The cups 40 have conically tapered surfaces engaged by the com'- plementary surfaces provided by the sidesv or 4 truss bars of U-shape cross section to increase the rigidity of the door structure. We have found that truss bars of C-shape cross section, as best shown in Figs. 11 and 12, are lighter in weight for the same strength than the U-shaped bars heretofore used. We have valso provided a novel and improved arrangement for mounting such C-shape bars on the several door sections.

Referring particularly to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be seen that the C-shaped bars 52 are attached at their ends to the individual door sections by upstanding ears 42 of the hinge section 36B,`

the cups 40 being welded to the sides 38 after the hinge sections 36A and 36B and cups 4D are located in assembled position. The tapered surfaces'of the cups40 and sides 42 form bearings about whose axes the hinge sections pivot.

The cups 40 and sides or ears 38 are provided with elongated openings adapted to receive inserts 44 of metal, plastic or other suitable material. Such inserts have flanges 46 engaging the interior of the cups 4U and are provided with grooves which receive C rings 48 to hold the inserts in the hinges. Each insert has an opening adapted to freely receive the shaft lillY of a track roller.

The inserts 44 are preferably made with two different arrangements of openings for receiving the track roller shafts. In one form of insert this opening is adjacent one end of the insert as indicated in Figs. 3, 5, 8, and 10. In the other form of insert the opening for the track roller shaft is midway of the length of the insert as shown in Fig. 9.

With these two types of inserts, three different positions of the track roller shaft can be provided for any given size of hinge as clearly indicated in Figs; 8, 9, and 10. In Fig. 8 inserts are used with eccentric openings and such openings are positioned to bring the track roller shaft closest to the rear of the door sections. In Fig. 9 inserts are used with central openings, thereby moving the track roller shaft and track roller one step further rearwardly of the door sections. In Fig. 10 the positions of theeccentric opening inserts are reversed over those shown in Fig. 8 to position the track roller two steps rearwardly of the door sections.

In Fig. 11, three different sizes of hinges are shown, the three sizes being identical except that the bearing portions and openings for the inserts areprogressvely farther rearwardly of the door sections. With these three sizes of hinges and the two types of inserts, nine different roller positions can be obtained. It will be understood of course that the stepped position of 'the rollers rearwardly of the door sections compensates for the taper of the tracks and permits the entire door to seal simultaneously against the doorjamb when brought into closed position and to break free of such doorjamb immediately upon opening movement of the door.

Where a track roller is to be mounted on the upper portion of the upper door section, only the hinge section 36A need be used, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. A similar half hinge could be used to attach the lowermost rollers to the lower door section but in most instances it is preferable to mount these lowermost rollers in ears provided by the plates 34. l

In wide doors it has been customary'to provide a pair of bolts 54. These bolts 54 have heads which engage one side of a door section and Shanks passing through the door section and a special washer 56 (Fig. 14), the Shanks being threaded to receive nuts 56. Each washer 56 is of such size as to overlap the edges of a round hole formed in the C-bar 52 and has projecting prongs 60 which grip the wood of which the door sections are formed and prevent relative movement-between the C-bar and door section.

Intermediate portions of the C-bars 52 are bent rearwardly of-the door sections and are supportedY on chairs 62. Each chair 62 is of generally U-shape construction, being formed of sheet metal and serving as one section of a hinge being used to replace the section 36A. Each chair section 62 has cups 40 welded thereto in the same mannerof which such cups are welded to the hinge section 36A which the chair 62 replaces, it being understood that the chair 62 and the hinge section 36B are pivotally connected in the same manner in which hinge sections 36A and 36B are connected. The chair sections 62 are made with the cups 40 locatedY different distances rearwardly of the door so that such chair sections are `useable with the different sizes of hinge sections 36B, indicated in Fig. 11, and such additional sizes as it may be desirable to provide.

The bar receiving end of each side of a chair section 62 is provided with a central recess 64 n which the C-shaped bar 52 is seated. This bar is held in place by a sheet metal cap 66 secured by bolts 68 to laterally projecting ears 10 integral with the sides of chair section 62. The cap 66 has inwardly projecting tongues l2 provided with tapered sides which are wedged into the open side of the `C-shaped bar 52 and grip this bar' so firmly that the result is the same as though the cap were welded thereto. It will be noted that the cap B6 has a downwardly directed edge 14 overlapping the ears 10 located on one side of the bar 52.

In some instances it is desirable to increase the tension on the truss bars by inserting shims therebeneath. Such a shim is indicated at 16 in Fig. 13 wherein this shim is illustrated as beingV located between the chair 62 and bar 52. The shim also has lateral extensions 18 located between the ears 'l0 and adjacent portions of the cover 66.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that we have provided an overhead door of the multisection type wherein very simple hinge and combined hinge and truss support members may be readily formed in different sizes to compensate for the taper of the tracks and assure proper sealing of the door when in closed position. Likewise, we have provided an improved truss construction which is simpler, less expensive, and lighten in weight for a given rigidity than the truss constructions of the prior art. Our truss construction incorporates a novel means `for securing a -rigid'load-carrying-connection between the truss bar and its supporting chair which requires no drilling of the truss coming within the scope of the appended claims.

The subject matter disclosed but not claimed herein is claimed in our divisional application, Serial No. 227,901, filed May 23, 1951.

We claim: y

1. A hinge for overhead doors of the multisection type comprising a first section formed of sheet metal and having upstanding sides with cups attached thereto, said cups having frusto conical bearing surfaces and said cups and sides having aligned elongated openings, a second hinge section of sheet metal having upstanding sides with frusto conical bearing surfaces engaging the frusto conical bearing surfaces of said cups, inserts located in said elongated openings, said inserts having openings for receivng a roller shaft, and C -rings for holding said inserts in said first-named openings, said inserts being elongated and having their shaft-receiving openings located adjacent one end thereof whereby different positions for said roller shafts can be provided by different arrangements of said inserts in said rst-named openings.

2. A hinge for overhead doors of the multisection type comprising a first section formed of sheet metal and having upstanding sides with cups attached thereto, said cups having frusto conical bearing surfaces and said cups and sides having aligned elongated openings, a second hinge section of sheet metal having upstandingv sides with frusto conical bearing surfaces engaging the frusto conical bearing surfaces of l said cups, inserts located in said elongated openings, said inserts having openings for receivingi a roller shaft, said inserts being elongated and having their shaft-receiving openings located adjacent one end thereof whereby different positions for said roller shaft can beprovided by different arrangements of said inserts in said first-named openings.

3. A hinge for overhead doors of the multisection type comprising a first section formed of sheet metal and having a substantially fiat portion adapted to be secured to a door section and upstanding sides with cups attached thereto, said cups having frusto conical bearing surfaces, a second hinge section of sheet metal having a substantially fiat portion adapted to be secured to a door section and upstanding ears with frusto conical bearing surfaces engaging the frusto conical bearing surfaces of said cups, said sections being pivoted about an axis within said cups, said cups and sides having aligned elongated openings, an insert located in each of said elongated openings, said inserts having openings for receiving a roller shaft, said inserts being elongated and having rthe longitudinal axes thereof disposed substantially perpendicular to the fiat portion of said first section and having the shaft-receiving openings located along said longitudinal axes whereby said roller shaft is spaced from the plane of said fiat portions of said sections.

4. A hinge for overhead doors of the multisection type comprising a first section formed of sheet metal and having a substantially fiat portion adapted to be secured to a door section and yupstanding sides with frusto conical'bearing surfaces and aligned elongated ,openings/ therethrough, a second hinge section of sheet metal having a substantially `fiat portion adapted to be secured to a door section and upstanding ears with frusto conical bearing surfaces engaging the frusto conical bearing surfaces of said sides,

said sections being pivoted about an axis"with in said elongated openings, an insert located in each of said elongated openings, said inserts` having openings for receiving a roller shaft, said inserts being elongated and having the longitudinal axes thereof disposed substantially perpendicular to the iiat portion of said first section and having the shaft-receiving openings located along said longitudinal axes whereby said roller shaft is spaced from the plane of said flat portions of said sections.

5. A hinge for overhead doors of the kmultisection type comprising a first section formed of sheet metal and having upstanding sides with bearing surfaces and aligned openings, a secv `ond hinge section of sheet metal having upstanding sides with bearing surfaces engaging the bearing surfaces-of said rst section, an insert located in each of said openings, said inserts having openings for receiving a roller shaft, said insertshaving their shaft-receiving. openings so K located within the periphery of said inserts that different positions for said roller shaft can be provided by different arrangements of said lnserts in said first-named openings.

JOHN F. MCKEE. MELVIN E. HARTZLER.

` References Cited in the file of this patentv UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date y 1,857,756 Headley May 10, 1932 1,936,237 Johnson v Nov. 21, 1933 k1,974,147 Bittorf Sept. 16, 1934 2,134,397 Clark Oct. 25, 1938 2,171,194 Smith Aug. 29, 1939 2,191,632 Smith Feb. 27, 1940 2,233,35'1 Rowe Feb.- 25, 1941y 2,319,303 Crawford May 18,1943 2,354,976 Robinson Aug. 1, 1944 2,484,609 Clark Oct. 11, 1949 2,525,309 Norberg Oct. 10, 1950 

